


Third Time's the Charm

by ToukoTai



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Gen, could be read as pre slash, or just best friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-04
Updated: 2015-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-18 22:15:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4722362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToukoTai/pseuds/ToukoTai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaito's not sure what made Shinichi look at him and decide: 'that guy. right there. We're gonna get <i>acquainted</i>.' But he's not complaining.<br/>He would however, like to lodge a compliant over the visiting hours.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> you know how Kaito spends half his time denying he's Kid?  
> yeah, he doesn't do that here. At all.

 

When Shinichi figured out who he was, Kaito didn’t sweat it.

Wasn’t that much of a surprise, had only been a matter of time now that the mini detective was back in his full grown body. Kaito’d been hanging around after one of his own heists, just enjoying the high from the crowd when Shinichi had come out of fucking nowhere.

(Well, Kaito had noticed him during the heist, but the detective had stayed out of his way and looked like he might collapse from lack of sleep at any minute, so Kaito had assumed he’d gone home once the fun was over.)

“Yeah, sure.” Kaito agreed absentmindedly to the hissed accusation, deftly snatching Shinichi’s to go cup from freefall. “You gonna finish this?” He held up the half finished drink Shinichi had dropped in his moment of finger pointing. Shinichi looked from him to the drink and back to him with the most befuddled expression.

“Did you not understand what I just said?” He asked, voice wavering.

“Pretty sure I did.” Kaito said, making a mental note that agreeing with geniuses in the most mundane way possible seemed to throw them off.

“You’re Kid.” Shinichi repeated, his voice still a little dazed. “You, Kuroba Kaito, are the Kaitou Kid.”

“Uh, yeah? Heard you the first time, answer hasn’t changed.” Kaito raised his eyebrows at Shinichi and shook the cup, feeling the warm liquid swirl. “Can I or will you?”

“You...you can have it.” Shinichi said in a rushed sigh. Kaito should really try this with Hakuba sometime.

“Thaaaanks~”

“You’re not worried?” Kaito shrugged, sipping carefully at the drink. He wrinkled his nose.

“Ugh. Nevermind.” He shoved the cup back into Shinichi’s hands, which almost dropped the cup but managed to not completely fail at their task. “I can’t believe you drink coffee black. Actually, no. I can.” He shoved his hands into his pants’ pockets. “What are you doing here anyway? Thought you were busy with that vanished heir deal thingy-case, I meant case.” He corrected hastily at Shinichi’s glare. Looking more deadly with the purple black shadows from lack of sleep around them.

“I was.” It seemed like his favorite critic had gotten his feet back under him. Goody.

“So you solved it and then you came...here? To a heist?”  Shinichi ducked his head slightly, letting his bangs cover his eyes.

“I was in the neighborhood and I heard Hakuba was back in England for break.”

“Came to give them a fighting chance, huh?” Kaito mused, grin spreading across his face. They both knew very well that Kid had gotten away with the jewel. In fact, it was currently residing in the now empty coffee cup. Also, something they both knew. “How did you get my name, by the way?” Shinichi managed to look smug even while looking like he might keel over from exhaustion.

“Nakamori-san pointed you out to me.” He said with a matching grin. “She thought I might be interested in getting a magician’s viewpoint on Kid.”

“She likes being helpful.” Kaito agreed, turning his head up to the sky, watching the helicopter search lights. “Well, I think things are pretty much wrapped up here. I’m going home. You should too, you look like a racoon. Not in a good way either.” Kaito turned to go, took exactly one step and was brought up short. By a hand grabbing his arm, he really shouldn’t have been so shocked.

For a guy who looked like he was one step away from falling asleep, Shinichi had a surprisingly strong grip, fingers like steel bands wrapping around his forearm. Blue eyes burned in the shadows of Shinichi’s face. “Okay really?” Kaito tried to twist his arm out of the almost bruising grip and succeeded in doing absolutely nothing, except causing Shinichi to tighten from almost bruising to probably definitely going to leave a mark. “Ow, ow, ow. Lighten up will ya?” The fingers loosened only slightly. Not enough to allow Kaito a chance to shake him and run, but enough that he wouldn’t have to be wearing long sleeved shirts for the next couple days.

“Nakamori-san mentioned that you’re childhood friends.” Kaito furrowed his brow, what did that have to do with anything? “She also mentioned how much she...dislikes Kid.” A mild way of putting the intense burning hatred Aoko held for the thief. _Don’t wince, don’t wince_ , Kaito repeated to himself, instead scrunching his nose to look more confused. Though he had an idea where this was going and he didn’t like it.

“Uh, yeah? Her dad’s the head investigator, if you didn’t notice.” He might have given up the ghost on Kid, but he wasn’t going to spill all his secrets so easily.

“I had actually.” Shinichi continued, voice calm. His head canted to the side, still studying him. Kaito didn’t like that look. Not at all, not even a little bit. “It’s something important, isn’t it? To lie to _her_ , it has to be, doesn’t it?” Kaito hadn’t forgotten about Ran. If there was one thing he could count on, it would be that Shinichi would draw the parallels between his situation as Conan and Kaito’s current predicament. But Kaito had been perfecting his balancing act long before the Conan era came about, and now, even after Shinichi’s mishap ended, had it down to a science.

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.” Kaito shrugged, using the movement to yank his arm out of Shinichi’s grasp. Shinichi didn’t look the least bit convinced, Kaito didn’t expect him to be. He just didn’t want to explain. One because, hello, wide open public space with a lot of people milling around and Two. Shinichi really didn’t need a whole new crime syndicate to go after when he’d _just_ finished dealing with his own. Unfortunately, Kaito really couldn’t tell him that, it would only make him more determined.

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?” Kaito raised an eyebrow at him, then widened his eyes and made a show of looking around.

“Well, golly gee. Should I just lay _all_ of my deepest darkest secrets out for you and whoever else happens to be walking by?” This time it was Shinichi who winced. Ha. And then he switched conversation tactics on Kaito.

“The Nakamoris are family friends, and Hakuba as a classmate.” Shinichi said, watching Kaito carefully at the seeming non sequitur.

“Of course you’ve talked to Hakuba.” Kaito sighed, posture slumping.

“He had only amazing things to say about you.” Shinichi reassured him.

“For some reason that doesn’t make me feel better.” Shinichi smiled at him, wide and bright, before sobering quickly.

“Doesn’t it get lonely?’ He asked. And oh no. Oh fuck no. Kaito knew what this was. That son of bitch was _sympathizing_ with him!

“I wouldn’t know.” Kaito said every bit as flippantly as he didn’t feel. “I’m not lonely.” _Liar, lair_. Shinichi leveled a flat, unimpressed stare at him.

“Sure.” There was a whole paragraph of disbelief in that word. Kaito didn’t get a chance to respond before Shinichi changed conversation directions, _again_. “I wanted to thank you for your assistance earlier.” Oh, so that’s what this was about. That whole helping get your real body back and bring down the guys who did it to you thing. “I think I’ll call it a night like you said.” It was a good thing Kaito had so much practice with his poker face because he was seriously getting conversation whiplash.

“Ooookay.” Kaito took an experimental step back, and another, but all Shinichi did was smirk at him. “So uh, goodnight?”

“Goodnight.” Shinichi agreed amiably. He stayed where he was as Kaito turned and vanished into the crowd.

 

Well, that whole meeting was really fucking weird, Kaito thought as he burrowed under the covers of his bed. Pleasantly exhausted from the night’s activities. Still, it was the first time Kaito and Shinichi had met face to face, as themselves, since Shinichi got back. Actually, it was the first time Shinichi had ever met Kaito as Kaito. So as first meetings went, it went very well. No one dead or maimed or arrested.

Which, Kaito hadn’t actually expected to be turned over to the police that night. Shinichi was too curious about him to bother with turning him in. If Kaito went to jail, it wouldn’t be too hard for him to escape, being an escape artist after all. And when he escaped, he’d be going to ground, taking all his secrets with him, never to be really seen again.(Being a master of disguise also helped.) Shinichi would know that, and wouldn’t want to risk it, keeping Kaito where he could keep tabs on him. Essentially, the same conclusion Hakuba had arrived at several months ago.

But that aside, Shinichi seemed really... _friendly_ last night. And unerringly fixated on Kaito, or really, on Kaito’s problems as Kid.

Oh. Wait.

Hadn’t he just thought of it? Shinichi liked puzzles and no one knew why Kid did what he did. So it would stand to reason, now that all the danger of the organization was past, Shinichi would turn his attention to the next biggest mystery. Which just so happened to be Kaito and Kid.

Okay. That made sense. That put the night’s meeting into a frameable context. Gain Kaito’s trust so he could learn the reason and then use that knowledge to catch Kid up at a later date.

He’d just have to be a little more careful when dealing with Kudo in the future. Besides it wasn’t like he’d see him all that much, they lived on separate sides of the city after all.

So thinking, Kaito rolled over, curled up and fell asleep.

 

Kaito squinted at the person on his doorstep the next morning, debating if he could safely get away with slamming the door and pretending he’d never heard the bell.

“Good morning, Kaito. Nakamori san says breakfast is ready and if you want anything you’d better hurry.” So no, if Aoko sent him, there was no way Kaito could get away with his brilliant plan of just ignoring his early morning visitor.

“Is this some sort of subtle psychological warfare?” He asked instead. Shinichi, looking a lot less like death then the previous night, smiled at him.

“If it was, do you think I would tell you?” Kaito’s squint turned into a glare, it did not affect the width of Shinichi’s smile.

“Why are you even here?” Kaito couldn’t help but ask, voice almost a hiss. Shinichi shrugged.

“Nakamori san was kind enough to offer their guestroom. She was worried about me going home alone so late last night.”

“You did kinda look like a zombie. Not gonna lie.” Kaito considered him for a moment. “So you stayed the night with Aoko and her dad. How’s miss Mori feel about that?”

“Ran? Why would she mind.” So probably not dating, or Shinichi was just that dense. Could go either way really. Shinichi’s smile took on a slightly sheepish edge. “We’re not dating and she thinks I need to get out and make new friends anyway. Not work as much.” So they weren’t dating and she was pushing Shinichi to work less and make new friends. Instead he’d attended a heist where he’d spent the last twenty minutes chatting Kaito up even though he looked about to pass...out...

“Oh my god.” The sudden epiphany broke through the neutral poker face Kaito had been keeping up, pushing it aside for shocked realization. Shinichi peered at him curiously. “You!” Kaito’s arm flung out to jab a finger in his face. “You’re making friends!”

“Uhhh…?” Now Shinichi looked confused, eyes flicking from the point of the finger in front of his nose, to Kaito’s slightly wild eyed look.

“You’re making friends! _With me_! _That’s_ what you’re doing!”

“Yes?” Shinichi not only looked but also sounded completely confused. “That was the general idea.” Kaito dropped his hand, running his other one through his hair.

“Okay, okay. Give me a moment, I need to come to terms with this.” He said, dragging the hand that was in his hair down his face.

“What’s there to come to terms wi…” Shinichi trailed off for a moment, but he wasn’t a teenage detective for nothing. “Don’t tell me, you _actually_ thought I was conducting psychological warfare!”

“It was a very distinct possibility that I couldn’t discount, okay?” Shinichi _stared_ at him before breaking out in laughter. “Hey, hey!” Kaito frowned, Shinichi was laughing so hard he was almost bent double. “You were being like ten times nicer then you usual are. What was I supposed to think?”

“I can’t, I can’t believe you. You were so blase last night.” He gasped. “I could have turned you into the police any time. But you, you thought I was trying to fake you out because I was being _nice_?”

“Oh knock it off already.” Kaito grumbled, folding his arms across his chest. “Can you blame me? Hakuba is the only detective I have any actual personal experience with.” Shinichi straightened up, his eyes still laughing and his mouth tugging into a smile.

“Then we’ll just have to change that.” He shoved Kaito’s shoulder. “Go get dressed so we can start with breakfast, Kaito.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinichi likes to multitask. Solving a case, bonding with Kaito and introducing his best friend to his new friend. All in one go.  
> Meanwhile, Kaito almost kills Shinichi and Hattori wonders how this became his life.

“I hate you. I hate you and the hellhole you climbed out of and I want you to _stop ringing my doorbell at seven in the morning on a Sunday damnit!_ ” Shinichi only smiled at Kaito, sunny and happy. Like the angry nonsense spilling out of Kaito’s mouth were the greatest things he’d heard that day. (Probably true considering how early it was.) Kaito was starting to think Shinichi was the deranged one around here.

“Good morning Kaito!” He fairly chirped, and had the nerve to laugh when Kaito tried to strangle him. Fortunately for him and unfortunately for Kaito, Shinichi had brought a friend.

“Ya know some interestn’ people, Kudo.” Hattori Heiji commented, grabbing hold of Kaito’s waist, stopping Kaito’s fingers just shy of Shinichi’s neck.

“I’ll show you interestin’.” Kaito growled, copying Hattori’s accent perfectly on the last word before elbowing him viciously in the stomach. Hattori grunted but didn’t loosen his hold.

“We’ll just see ourselves in.” Shinichi said laughter in his undertone as he stepped around Hattori and Kaito, into the house.

 

“Are you going to tell me _why_ you decided to visit at this ungodly hour?” Kaito asked once it became clear that Shinichi was perfectly content to make happy sounds into his coffee and Hattori was more interested in trying to stare Kaito down then offering an explanation.

“It’s seven, that’s hardly ungodly.”

“It is if you have to _wake me up_.”

“Are you always this grumpy in the morning?”

“ _You woke me up._ ” Hattori was watching this exchange with more attention than Kaito really thought it warranted.

“We’re working on a case.” Shinichi finally relented, probably realizing that Kaito wasn’t going to budge from his standpoint until Shinichi moved the conversation forward.

“When aren’t you?” Kaito grumbled, stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest.

“Point.” His friend allowed, tipping his head toward Kaito. “It’s a locked door murder.” Kaito squinted at him. There _had_ to be more to this than that. “Well, a locked _safe_ murder.”

“More like a vault.” Hattori volunteered.

“And you’re bringing this to me because…?” Kaito raised his eyebrows meaningfully at Shinichi.

“Kinda wonderin’ that too.” Hattori also turned to his friend, face expectant. Shinichi merely folded his hands on the table.

“The victim is still in the vault. And we can’t get in.” Okay, Kaito still didn’t understand how this affected him. Waitaminute. Oh.

Oh no.

“I’m not cracking a vault for you.” He said bluntly, turning his nose up defiantly. “The security company can handle it.”

“The victim was the only one who knew the combinations and she was paranoid enough not to allow the security company a backup of the codes.” Kaito glared at Shinichi. To which the detective offered an absurdly simple counter attack. “Please?” He asked, eyes round and wide and sincere. “It’s not iron tanuki, but it’s close. We’ve gone through four different locksmiths already. You’re the only one left I can ask.” Kaito scrunched his face up, this was starting to become a habit with Shinichi.

“Fine.” He spat. “But you’re gonna owe me. I wasn’t planning on waking up until ten today.” He grumbled, accepting the piece of paper with the address written on it. “I’ll meet you there in like an hour or so.” Shinichi’s smile turned downright, dare Kaito say it, _fond_. _Of him_. Ack. He beat a hasty retreat up the stairs, listening half way as Shinichi escorted Hattori out of the house.

“No really Kudo, who the hell is this kid?” He couldn’t blame Shinichi for the half laugh half snort at that. Not even a little bit. And while normally he’d prefer to kick unknown detectives out of his house himself, he had to focus on getting a decent locksmith disguise into place.

He tried not to think about the fact that he trusted Shinichi to get Hattori out of his house. That he trusted Shinichi’s judgement on who to let in on his secret. Tried not to think about it at all.

His disguise would have to be an older more distinguished looking gentleman, someone who looked like he’d been cracking locks since before the vault’s designer was in diapers. It would be a whole lot easier than a younger disguise. Command respect as an elder and a master of the craft.

Kaito stretched and cracked his back. Time to go to work.

 

_“Who’s tha old guy Kudo?”_

_“Who do you think?”_

_“No. Noooo. Kudo, ya didn’.”_

_“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”_

_“Please tell me ya didn’ go makin’ friends wit tha Kaitou Kid!”_

_“Okay, I won’t.”_

_“But ya did!”_

_“He helped us, helped **me**. He’s not a **bad** guy and I want to know why.”_

_“And ya think he’ll tell ya if yer buddy buddy?”_

_“I think it’s a start.”_

_“Jus’ don’ go gettin in ova’ yer head.”_

_“When has that **ever** happened to me?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah Heiji, when has Shinichi ever gotten in over his head? _God._ It's like you don't even know him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinichi decides to stop dancing around Kaito's problem and goes for the throat. Not literally of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now for the thrilling conclusion.

“You’re late.” Kaito mentally groaned and debated closing the door in Shinichi’s face. But no. That’d just encourage him. Kaito was starting to detect a definite pattern with these house visits. Namely that the _only_ time Shinichi apparently had to lean on his doorbell was before seven thirty in the morning.

“Why hello to you too, Tantei-kun. It’s great to see you; I’ve been having a good week, thanks for asking. Please, come in. Make yourself at home.” Kaito swung the door open a few extra inches and Shinichi, without even blinking, took the mile and strode into his entryway.

“You haven’t delivered a notice yet.” Shinichi waited at least until Kaito had closed the door. His voice was both accusing and confused. Kaito raised an eyebrow.

“For what?”

“For your Valentine’s Day heist? You have less than a week. Or were you planning to wait until the absolute last minute?”

“Uh…” Was that it? Weird. Kaito scratched at the back of his head. “I’m not doing one…?” He ventured finally. “Like at all. For real.” When Shinichi still looked completely unconvinced.

“You’re kidding.” With just two words Shinichi made it clear that he thought Kaito had gone further around the bend than normal. “You _always_ go all out for holidays. I would have thought Valentine's Day was _your_ holiday, so to speak."

“Not this time. This time I’m staying home, locking the doors and the world can get along without me for one day and night. I’m even taking the preemptive strike of calling in sick for school.” Shinichi tilted his head to the side, blue eyes suddenly sharpening.

“Why not?” Kaito could have smacked himself in the face. If there was one thing Shinichi adored, it was a mystery and here Kaito had inadvertently handed him one. He could see it now: The Case of the Missing Valentine’s Day Heist.

“Historically, Valentine’s Day has never ended well for me.” Shinichi gave him a flat look. “Don’t give me that. I’ve wound up in the hospital with a broken leg, gotten sick and had a witch after my blood the last three in a row. I’m excellent at poker Tantei kun, I know when to fold.” The blue eyes bore into his own.

“You’re not kidding.” Kaito decides not to take offense at the incredulous tone.

“Unfortunately.”

 

“I thought you weren’t doing anything for Valentine’s Day?” Kaito frowned at his phone, squinted at the caller ID and, after a cursory wipe at the screen, put it back to his ear.

“Hi Kudo, it’s so nice to hear from you since the last time we talked, oh, yesterday. I’ve been keeping busy. How’s the death and blood treating you?” An annoyed sigh almost blew out his eardrums.

“Turn on your TV.”

Kaito is treated to the sight of a news anchor happily proclaiming the latest Kid notice had been decoded by the police. Set for February the fourteenth. Valentine’s Day, of course.

“Son of a bitch.” He breathed.

“Not your doing, I take it?” Kaito almost forgot he was still holding his phone.

“Oh, it will be.” He promised. The target was an elegant necklace, of fine golden chains with small rubies set draping down the wearer’s neck. Heart’s Blood it was called. The center set ruby was more than big enough to be a contender for Pandora. In short: Kaito might not have picked this heist, but like hell he’d let it slip him by either. If there was a chance no matter how small, he’d have to take it.

“I thought as much. The note was far too simple.” Was muttered into the line, followed by another quieter sigh. The background sounds of the police station providing white noise on the line. “Sit this one out.” Kaito blinked, muting his tv to give all his attention to his phone.

“I’m sorry; I thought you just told me to _not_ get involved with someone pretending to be Kid.” _Pretending to be me_ went unsaid.

“Because I did.” The background noise of the precinct faded out as Shinichi moved to a more secure location where he wouldn’t be overheard. “Like your Valentine’s Day problems, every time you’ve gotten involved with an imposter, wide scale property damage has been the _least_ of it.” Kaito grinned. That Christmas Eve had been _the best_. “Stay in.”

“Urrrrgh. _Fine_.” He agreed, crossing his fingers. The dragged out whining growl seemed to satisfy Shinichi, because he promptly hung up. Which just showed how distracted the detective was, he should know Kaito better by now.

Not that Kaito was complaining, it worked out in his favor after all.

 

“I thought you were staying home tonight, _Kuroba_.” Kaito matched Shinichi venomously polite tone with a wide smile of his own.

“Aw, I couldn’t miss a Kid Heist! I’m his number one fan!” Kaito returned, leaning his arms on the hood of the squad car. Hakuba, after a quick look between the two, subtly started migrating out of the line of verbal fire. Smart man. As soon as Hakuba was safely out of earshot, Shinichi grabbed Kaito’s collar with both hands and yanked him close enough to growl at, almost pulling him over the hood of the squad car, lips hardly moving. Kaito let him. Best to get this over with, then having to dodge around Shinichi all night.

“You _told_ me you were staying home.”

“No, _you_ told _me_ to stay home.”

“ _You agreed!_ ”

“I crossed my fingers.”

“What are you? Twelve?”

“Wouldn’t six be the better age to pick?”

“I am going to hurt you.” Shinichi hissed, and released Kaito with a violent shove. Kaito let himself stumble back a few steps before following Shinichi to the group of police officers that Hakuba had retreated to.

And that settled that.

 

“Well, the one she’s wearing is _totally_ a fake.” Kaito murmured, leaning back against the wall of the ballroom, arms shoved into his pockets. The very picture of nonchalance. He made sure to grin widely and smugly at Hakuba every time they made eye contact. Next to him, Shinichi rolled his eyes, not even bothering to ask how Kaito could tell that from half a crowded ballroom away. “How much you wanna bet this is all some elaborate way for her boyfriend to propose?”

“No takers.” Shinichi said, voice flat.

“You can’t still be mad about me being here.” Shinichi let his silence speak for him. “Oh come _on_. I wasn’t going to come originally but there are opportunities I _can’t_ turn down.” Shinichi’s head whipped over to look at him so fast, Kaito could swear he heard a crack.

“Like what?” Shinichi snapped. Wait, no, bad move, abort, _abort_.

_Never forget, you’re Shinichi’s favorite puzzle._

Kaito held his hands up and started attempting to back away from the laser sharp blue eyes suddenly zeroed in on him. A hand attached to an arm attached to Shinichi by the shoulder slammed into the wall next to Kaito, cutting off his escape route. “Like what, Kaito.” That was not a question, it was a demand. And Kaito wasn’t sure how much he could dodge giving an answer this time. Fortunately, his luck remained true to form.

“Oh thank god.” Kaito breathed out when the lights suddenly failed. Plunging the entire the ballroom into darkness and saving him from having to distract or, worse, answer Shinichi.

 

It was indeed the boyfriend proposing, Kaito quietly bemoaned the bet he would have won, even if the entire thing was an elaborate way for the boyfriend’s father to murder the girlfriend. Probably not the best plan the old man had ever had, considering there was an entire police force and two teenage prodigy detectives in attendance.

And Kaito himself, but well, he didn’t really count in terms of law enforcement. Though he _did_ count in terms of life saving.

As amazing as Shinichi was, he tended to work backwards from a crime. Kaito, on the other hand, was used to working forwards.

 

The fiancee was known for her weak heart, having it give out over all the festivities and excitement of a Kid heist (even a fake one) and her longtime boyfriend proposing? Well, no one would think twice.

Did people really believe that? Kaito wondered. Of course they did. He was looking right at the proof. A perfect, yet fake replica of Heart’s Blood, dusted with contact poison, sitting pretty in the family’s hidden safe.

Well, it looked like he’d get to have even more fun than usual tomorrow night.

 

Kaito’s plan was simple really, after the proposal and acceptance, he made his own move just as the father was starting to look confused over the newly engaged girl’s failure to drop dead.

_Keep your eye on the ball, but what do you do when there’s an extra ball in play?_

He needed something eye catching. Something bright with just a hint of danger to create a sense of awe in his audience, but nothing too out of control. It wouldn’t do to cause a _real_ heart failure after he’d done all the leg work to prevent the planned one.

Fire tricks were such showstoppers and stealing the show _was_ a specialty of his and the old man _had_ invited him. Well, invited Kid. Well, not really actually. But he _had_ to have known Kid would show up, considering his track record, as Shinichi had pointed out, with imposters. Clearly, the idea that the real Kid would show, hadn’t factored all that much into the old man’s plans. Kaito chalked it up to more cover for the murder, which was just about the dumbest thing he had ever encountered. How did Shinichi _deal_ with murderers this dumb day in and day out? (No wonder he practically ran Kaito down every time they crossed paths. The kid was probably slowly going insane.)

Really, this whole affair was starting to be very dull and more work than he wanted.

But it was worth all the trouble to see the way the father’s face turned to ash when he produced the real Heart’s Blood in one hand...and the poisoned fake in the other.

 

Kaito had ‘borrowed’ Heart’s Blood and the poisoned replica the day before. After all, security on the real thing wasn’t going to be tight the day before the declared time, especially if the owners involved knew it was a hoax. The poisoned fake was a twist he had uncovered while snooping through the mansion’s safe. The reason why, he discovered while doing some recon work on the family background. An old name, a wealthy family and a young, frail, woman with no family name to speak of. Classism was such an ugly word and Kaito was nothing if not committed to happy endings.

Even if it wasn’t his own.

 

“That’s how you knew it was a fake.” Shinichi’s voice carried over to him on the rooftop. Kaito didn’t bother turning around, focused instead on the intricate necklace in his hands, held up to the light of the moon. “You stole the real one and the poisoned one ahead of time and planted your own.” Kaito figured they’d finished reading the old man his rights by now, if Shinichi had tracked him down up here.

“In this instance, I prefer the term ‘borrowing’.” He threw over his shoulder.

“You usually have to ask permission for that.” This came from much closer, almost right behind him. Shinichi could _move_ when he wanted to, Kaito refused to even twitch.

“Technically, they gave me permission when they faked the heist note. They practically _invited_ me to.” He lowered the necklace, another night, another bust. No red glow except what was already there from being a ruby.

“Will you get down from there?” Kaito may or may not have decided to just hop up on the railing of the roof when checking Heart’s Blood. Okay, he did, he totally did. But he was a professional and he knew what he was doing. Most of the time. Some of the time. In this particular case, at least, he did.

“Make me.” Kaito turned around on the railing, carefully, he wasn’t an idiot, only making it halfway in his turn but still just in time to see Shinichi’s eyes widen in surprise at something behind Kaito. Just in time to see Shinichi start forward, arm raised to grab him.

“Kid! _look out!_ ” Two things happened at once.

Kaito’s foot slipped and there was the sound of a gunshot. That’s about when everything went to hell in a handbasket.

 

“When I said ‘make me’, that wasn’t what I had in mind.” Kaito felt the need to clarify, Shinichi jolted him a little harder than necessary at the next landing.

“I can’t believe you _fell_ off the railing and that’s why the shot missed. I can’t believe you have such stupid luck. I can’t believe the _legendary phantom thief_ broke his ankle falling off a railing!” Shinichi ranted at him as he helped Kaito down the access stairs, Kid clothing safely stashed away, a dummy glider sent off the roof and half the task force swarming the neighboring building looking for a shooter. Kaito was pretty sure they wouldn’t find anything, but it was the thought that counted.

“If anyone asks, I fell down the stairs during the second blackout. And it’s not broken, just sprained.” Shinichi’s grip on his waist tightened.

“Does this happen often?”

“No!” Kaito shot back, offended on a deep spiritual level. “I’ll have you know I have _excellent_ balance when nosy detectives aren’t shouting at me!”

“I meant _being shot at_!”

“Oh.” Kaito shrugged, almost shrugging Shinichi’s arm off as well. “Well, yeah.” He felt more then saw Shinichi’s incredulous stare. “You didn’t think I did this for my health, did you?”

“Clearly not.” Shinichi muttered and then louder. “I know you’re looking for a specific gem and I know you can only tell if it’s the gem you want under moonlight.” Kaito leaned more of his weight then necessary on Shinichi’s shoulder, causing the other boy to stumble and swear at him.

“Very astute, I’m just not the only one looking for it, s’all.” By that time they had reached the bottom floor and the door was flung open to the crowds on the ground and anything else Shinichi might have to say or, as the case may be, judging by his facial expression, scream, at Kaito are things he can’t say in public, surrounded by everyone and anyone who ever wanted to catch the Kaitou Kid.

That doesn’t mean he’s given up on the discussion. Far from it.

 

Besides Kaito, there was one other source of reliable information about Kid’s heists and what went on behind the scenes.

“I was starting to wonder when someone else would notice.” Hakuba said, leaning back in his seat. “There have been several witness reports of gunshots and snipers at Kid Heists in the past, but none of those reports has ever made it into the official write up’s.” Shinichi frowned. This sounded a lot more serious than just a random person taking pot shots at Kid. And from the way Kaito reacted when Shinichi asked, Kaito knew about them, knew they were there trying to _kill_ him, expected it even. And hadn’t bothered to tell anyone.

“I don’t get it. If he’s in trouble, why doesn’t he just say so?”

“He can’t.”

“Doesn’t want to, more like.” Shinichi grumbled into his coffee.

“No, I meant, he doesn’t know how.” At Shinichi’s incredulous look, Hakuba relented. “I’ve known Kuroba for quite a while, there are certain...habits of his that he has trouble shaking.”

“You mean besides the flair for the dramatic and kleptomaniac tendencies?” Hakuba inclined his head, in silent agreement before continuing.

“He’s a very secretive person, and not by choice, by necessity. I’ll admit to having a hand in that development. Until you rather forcefully came along, he’s been on his own. Relying solely on a very small inner circle for support. My guess puts it at one to two people at the most, and they would already know the history behind his actions.” Hakuba sipped his tea, allowing what he said to sink in. “It’s entirely possible that he’s unable to request assistance because it isn’t something he’s ever considered doing before.” That made a scary amount of sense.

“So he won’t ask because it won’t occur to him to?”

“Exactly.” Shinichi stared at Hakuba, eyes squinted and then pushed away from the table, standing up in the sudden burst of angry movement.

“That’s ridiculous. **He’s** ridiculous. And I’m not going to just stand by and watch him get shot because he can’t bring himself to ask for help!”

“That’s the spirit.” Hakuba muttered into his cup of tea as Shinichi threw down enough change to cover their bill and stomped out of the cafe, entry bell tinkling merrily in his wake.

 

A highly annoyed, highly aggravated Shinichi is what greets Kaito when he opens his door to vigorous knocking bright and early one morning. ( _And the trend continues._ Kaito thought to himself.)

“Out of curiosity, does Hattori wake up to you on his doorstep or is it just me?” Shinichi didn’t even dignify that with an answer. In fact he didn’t even wait to be invited in, shouldered his way through and kicked the front door closed behind him before launching into an aggressive line of questioning.

“What jewel is so damn important that you’re willing to risk life and limb for it? What’s so damn important that other people are trying to kill you for it?”

Clearly this has been hanging around in Shinichi’s brain since the Valentine’s Heist. Impressive considering that had been a week ago and Kaito had seen him make the papers for solving a big murder case since then.

“Well, I don’t know.” He sang in the most annoying voice possible. It _was_ seven in the morning and he _had_ had to hobble his way down the stairs from a dead sleep for this. Needless to say, Kaito was feeling less then charitable toward his new ball and chain. If he’d known Shinichi was this single minded...oh, who was he kidding, he’d still have made friends.(And he _had_ known.) “ _You’re_ the detective, why don’t you go out and _detect_?” The _look_ Shinichi levels at him could bring about the next ice age.

“What do you think I’m doing?” He hissed. “ _You_ are the best and closest source of information.”

“What if I don’t want to be?” Kaito whined. Shame had never been a thing he’d ever worried about, especially in front of Shinichi.

“ _Too bad_.”

Oh, so it was going to be one of _those_ mornings.

 

Twenty minutes later found the two seated at Kaito’s kitchen table. A mug of coffee in front of Shinichi and Kaito face down on the table, trying to become one with the wood grain. Finally, Kaito picked up his head enough glare at Shinichi.

“How early did you wake up today to be this much of a jerk?” Shinichi didn’t so much as twitch, calmly sipping from his coffee mug, attempting to stare Kaito down. Too bad Kaito didn’t stare down easy, he narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t go to sleep last night did you?”

“I had things on my mind.” Which meant, yes. He hadn’t gone to sleep. Actually now that Kaito was pretty much staring at him, it didn’t look like Shinichi had been sleeping very much at all. There were faint dark circles under his eyes, and his hair was mussed in ways Kaito hadn’t seen before, he sat a little slumped in his seat and Kaito would bet those were the clothes he’d been wearing the day before. All in all, Shinichi looked like he was coming off a three to four day case bender, like a train wreck after the fires had been put out. Except for the fact that his speech was precise, and un slurred.  And his blue eyes were bright, burning and locked on Kaito like a targeting system. This did not bode well for Kaito’s peace of mind.

“Have you slept like, _at all_ this week?” He asked, because there was that triple homicide case that happened. Shinichi merely raised an eyebrow at him.

“I haven’t been sleeping. I _can’t_ sleep.”

“I hear they make a pill for that.” Kaito commented off hand and maybe he shouldn’t have gone there, but he’s _tired_ damnit. “I’m sure your mini chemist friend can come up with something.” Shinichi’s gaze hardened and Kaito got the feeling he should be bracing himself for an onslaught. But Shinichi doesn’t launch himself over the table at him. He goes verbal instead of physical.

“It’s not a chemical problem. I can’t sleep because a friend of mine’s in trouble.” Shinichi said with great care. “He’s been in trouble for a long time and he doesn’t know how to ask for help.” Kaito shot upright in his seat.

“Now wait a-”

“I’m _not. done_.” Kaito’s teeth clicked together. The amount of raw emotion in those words more than enough to steal his voice. “So I’ve been trying to find a way to help him.” Shinichi continued as though Kaito hadn’t cut in. “It’s been keeping me up, trying to find a way, researching, reading reports, looking over footage, because my friend can’t make anything easy, even for himself.”

“Why are you so _invested_ in this?” Kaito growled. It was a fruitless question. Kaito was a mystery and Shinichi wanted to solve it. End of story.

“You save people. You helped saved me. Why can’t I help save you?” Kaito squinted at Shinichi who gazed calmly back. He wrinkled his nose, Shinichi raised an eyebrow. He sighed loudly and obnoxiously, Shinichi merely crossed his arms over his chest.

“Seriously?” Shinichi shrugged, seemingly nonplussed as Kaito leaned back in his chair.

“I ran out of ideas after I realized kidnapping you and trying to beat it out of you probably wouldn’t work.” Kaito snorted.

“Yeah, it wouldn’t.” He sounded vaguely proud of himself.

“I decided to go with honesty.”

“It is the best policy.” Kaito answered on autopilot. There was a short stare down, where Shinichi looked at him rather expectantly and Kaito. Well. If he had to break, he wasn’t going to make it easy for anyone. Like Shinichi said, he was incapable of making things easy, even for himself. Even if it wasn’t because he was a puzzle. Even if someone outside his family genuinely wanted to help him. _Weird_. “You’re really not going to let this go?” He tried one last time. Shinichi’s eyes bored into him. Right, right. Stupid question. “Okay. Wait here.” He limped his way up the stairs to his room, rummaging around in his desk until he found what he was looking for. Shinichi was still sitting in the chair, sipping at his coffee when Kaito returned. It probably said a lot that he hadn’t moved from his seat, that he had been expecting Kaito to return instead of take the opportunity to run.

Then again, Kaito grimaced down at his bandaged foot, it wasn’t like he was in any shape to run or get very far if he did.

“Here.” He slapped down a newspaper clipping next to Shinichi’s elbow.

“An obituary? Your father’s obituary?” Shinchi sounded a little lost and a lot confused. Kaito dropped into his chair with a sigh.

“If you want to get involved, if you want to _know_ , then you get to start at the beginning. No short cuts.” He said, folding his arms on the table. “You’ve been trying to work things out from the middle of the story. This goes back further then I’ve been alive.” Kaito felt his lips slide into a half grin and nodded to the clipping. “I will confirm or deny but I will not explain. That’s on you.” Shinichi’s eyes flicked from the clipping to Kaito.

“Understood.” He said. Kaito pillowed his head with his arms, half grin slipping off his face.

“Get some sleep, Meitantei.” He mumbled. “This has been going on for over a decade; it can wait a few more hours.”

Of course, Shinichi doesn’t listen to him, leaving the house with the clipping as soon as it became clear Kaito wasn’t going to give him anything else. But then, Kaito hadn’t expected Shinichi to.

 

_“Your father was the first Kid.”_

_“That’s practically a freebie, I hope you didn’t call me at...four in the morning to tell me that.”_

_“Whoever is after you, murdered him. Accidents like that don’t happen, not without a level of negligence that’s criminal.”_

_“Again, practically a freebie.”_

_“Someone, or someone **s** , wanted him, and by extension you, to steal something for them. A jewel of some kind, obviously. You both refused.”_

_“ **Four** in the morning.”_

_“You’re trying to beat them to the jewel and draw them out with your Heists. You’re making yourself a target on purpose.”_

_“If I say yes, will you hang up and let me sleep?”_

_“Kaito.”_

_“Shinichi.”_

_“It’s not working. They’re doctoring the reports.”_

_“Of course they are.”_

_“You knew?”_

_“You doubted?”_

 

_“His name is Snake.”_

_“You know, I’ve never asked him for his last name. I should do that.”_

_“Please don’t taunt the man trying to kill you.”_

_“...”_

_“More then you already do.”_

 

_“Pandora.”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Really?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“ **Really?** ”_

_“Yeeeeessss.”_

_“And they **believe** that?”_

_“Says the guy who used be six until three months ago.”_

_“Touche.”_

 

_“Doing anything tonight?”_

_“Depends. Are you asking me out on a date?”_

_“In a manner of speaking, yes.”_

_“Then I’m free.”_

_“I’ll pick you up at eight.”_

 

“Well. You’ve been busy.” Kaito remarked calmly.

“So have you.” Shinichi returned, leaning his elbows on the railing next to Kaito. “Three heists in one month? Just a little bit overkill don’t you think?” His eyes trailed down to Kaito’s foot, the one he wasn’t resting his weight on.

“Mmm.” Kaito hummed noncommittally, chin propped up on the back of his hand as he watched the activity below. “Gotta keep ‘em on their toes.” _Gotta keep ‘em occupied if you’re poking your nose in their business._

“And now?” Four stories under them, Snake and crew were being shoved unceremoniously into squad cars. Cursing and spitting, arms twisted behind backs with handcuffs. Hakuba looked particularly pleased with himself when Snake ‘accidently’ slammed his head against the squad car roof on his way into the backseat. Kaito snickered but his next words were at odds with his jovial appearance.

“Until he’s dead, or I am, I have to keep looking. I have to be sure.” There was silence on the rooftop, or as silent as you could get with the sound of a huge gang bust going on street level. “But I’m probably going to knock it back to like, once every two months or so. Pretty sure Nakamori would have a heart attack if I just up and quit all of the sudden. He’d miss me.” There was an odd little half smile on Shinichi’s face at that. What the hell? Did that mean Shinichi actually…? “Wait, waaaaait.” Kaito leaned in close, Shinichi leaned back, trying to avoid meeting Kaito’s eyes. But it was far too late. “ _You’d miss me too!_ ”

“Don’t be absurd.” Shinichi said, looking everywhere but at Kaito. The gravel of the rooftop suddenly extremely interesting. “How could I miss you? I know _exactly_ where to find you.”

“Methinks the lady doth protest too much.” Kaito sang. Shinichi hunched his shoulders in response. “Don’t worry, I would never leave my favorite critic hanging.” Kaito threw an arm around Shinichi, tugging him closer to Kaito’s side.

“I’m sure Hakuba will be thrilled to hear that.” Shinichi threw out, facial muscles spasming as he tried to get himself under control.

“Aww, don’t be mean.” He managed to shrug out from under Kaito’s arm, slipping back.

“I’m going home now.”

“Hey! Aren’t you supposed to buy me dinner?” Kaito yelled at his retreating back.

“I didn’t agree to that!”

“Oh come on!” Kaito whined, trailing Shinichi across the rooftop to the access door. “You said this was a date!”

“I said _in a manner of speaking_ it’s a date.”

“Can it be in the manner of speaking where food of some sort is involved? Cause like, I skipped dinner for this.”

“Will you not follow me home if I do?”

“I make no promises but your chances are greatly increased.”

“Deal.”

 

“Also _why_ do you keep showing up on my doorstep so early in the morning?”

“You have this habit of hiding what you feel.”

“Uh yeah? It’s the first rule of being a magician. Keep your poker face.”

“I don’t like it. You use it in situations where you shouldn’t.”

“Let’s table that discussion and come back to it later, you still haven’t answered my question.”

“I found that you don’t use your ‘poker face’ when it’s first thing in the morning.”

“...I’ll need to work on that.”

“ _Don’t_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were wondering, this piece was written and finished before the other two.
> 
> I've only seen the anime, but it seemed as though Kaito doesn't...do well on Valentine's Day.  
> Which makes me laugh. SO HARD. So I continued the trend.


End file.
